1. Field of the Invention.
This invention pertains to tremolos, and more particularly to simplified tremolos that replace original equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
It has long been known to equip guitars and other stringed musical instruments with tremolos. The tremolos enable the instrument player to change the tension in the strings when desired and thereby change the tuning of the strings.
Tremolos typically have at least three places at which relative movement of the various components occur. The first is a pivot arrangement at which the entire tremolo pivots relative to the instrument body. A common pivot arrangement is a pair of knife edges on a tremolo bridge that pivot on grooved posts that are embedded in the instrument body. Typical examples of prior knife edge and post designs are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,549,461 and 5,708,225.
A second place of relative movement between tremolo components is at intonation blocks on the bridge. The intonation blocks are moveable relative to the bridge and the instrument strings to set the effective span of the strings. Once the intonation blocks are locked in place when the tremolo is initially set up, they rarely have to be moved again. Typical prior tremolo intonation blocks can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,481,955 and 5,808,216.
A third place of relative movement between tremolo parts is at fine tuners. The fine tuners are designed to change the tension in the instrument strings by small amounts and thereby vary the string tonal qualities. Prior fine tuners are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,431,079 and 5,460,072.
For various reasons, the prior tremolos are not entirely satisfactory. As one reason, the knife edges of the prior tremolos tend to wear with usage. As they wear, their pivoting action on the instrument posts becomes unreliable and inconsistent. However, replacing the knife edges of prior tremolos is not possible without replacing the entire tremolo. Accordingly, it is a major inconvenience and expense to overcome the problems associated with worn knife edges.
Another deficiency of prior tremolos concerns the fine tuners. In the tremolo of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,079 patent, for example, there is a first sharp bend in the strings at their contacts with the fine tuners. There is another sharp bend in the strings at their contact points with the intonation blocks. The two sharp bends tend to weaken the strings, and the strings usually break at one or other of the bends. Further, prior fine tuners were designed with flat ends that contacted the strings. The strings easily and frequently slipped off the ends of the fine tuners as they were being adjusted, and it was a chore to return the strings back into contact with the fine tuners.
Prior tremolos were also infamous for the large number of small and expensive parts associated with the intonation blocks and fine tuners. Assembling the numerous small parts added further to the cost of the tremolos. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,745 and 5,477,765 show large numbers of small parts assembled into an expensive tremolo.
Because of the problems associated with prior tremolos, it is frequently necessary to replace them. However, because of their expense, instrument owners were hesitant to replace unsatisfactory tremolos with new ones, which were prone to the same problems. In the past, different model tremolos were not designed to be interchangeable with one another on an instrument. That is, after a particular tremolo model was installed in an instrument, replacing that tremolo with a different and less expensive model was invariably a difficult and even unworkable task.
Thus, a need exists for a practical way to replace prior tremolos with an improved model.